SINGAPORE: Every day, as part of her job, Ms Lynn Ho slips into a full-length wet suit and jumps into a heated pool filled with colourful rubber toys.
Her task is to coax the unwilling and uncooperative among her patients – who include all manner of dogs – to swim and exercise with her.
It’s a far cry from her previous jet-setting life as an air stewardess where she was scooting off to exotic countries like Egypt, Paris and London every week. But after flying the skies for 14 years, she gave it all up to pursue her passion for helping animals instead.
Today, Ms Ho, 42, is one of a handful of hydrotherapists in Singapore who specialises in treating dogs afflicted with chronic conditions such as hip dysplasia, stroke and paralysis, using hydrotherapy.
“Swimming is totally non-weight-bearing. It’s a very low impact form of exercise. So, any dog would be suitable to do the swimming treatment,” said Ms Ho, who founded the Canine Wellness and Rehab Centre in 2012.
These dogs are treated in a heated pool, where the warm water improves blood circulation to the muscles, reducing pain and inflammation.
The buoyancy of the water also provides support and allows the dogs to exercise without stressing their joints and muscles.
WATCH: Because how can you not? (2:35)
Ms Ho is featured on the programme On The Red Dot along with two other individuals from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society. They talk about why they left their respective well-paying jobs to focus on animal welfare. (Watch the episode here on Toggle.)
Ms Ho, who has six dogs herself according to her centre’s website, dug into her savings to do a two-week intensive course at Greyfriars Veterinary in the United Kingdom in 2012 as hydrotherapy courses were not offered in Singapore then.
“They introduced a fast-tracked course for us. What they did was to condense everything so you can learn as much things as possible in the quickest time,” she said.
The centre currently offers two types of swims – hydrotherapy and fitness swims. For hydrotherapy, “every time they do a swim, there’ll be a record taken to monitor the progress of the dog. We do light manual physical therapy under the water,” she said.
Each 30-minute hydrotherapy swim can cost up to S$75.
With only a handful of centres offering such treatments here, owners have to schedule these swim sessions months in advance. And each 30-minute hydrotherapy swim can cost up to S$75.
“There are some dogs with chronic conditions like hip dysplasia and arthritis. Usually, the owners are not very keen on surgery because there are certain risks involved.
“So, they always look for any conservative management that can help with and deal with the conditions that these dogs have,” she said.
WHEN HER PATIENTS DIE
One of Ms Ho’s strongest memories is of working with a sweet-natured Rottweiler named Tyson that was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a cancerous tumour in a bone.
He was swimming and undergoing treatment at the centre until the very day that he died.
She still finds it painful to talk about Tyson today. “The toughest part of the job is not about meeting dogs who are aggressive, who will bite, or who are not cooperative.
“The toughest part is to see them leaving us,” she said.
On The Red Dot’s latest series, Work In Progress, explores various careers. Catch it on Fridays, 9.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5.
